Veronique Branquinho

Chalk it up to her late time slot or the inconvenient location, but Veronique Branquinho has fallen off the radar for a lot of big editors and retailers. The fact that she's no longer the new kid on the block probably plays into it, too: The cool hunters have chewed up and spit out a couple of generations of "next big things" since she first hit the scene in 1998.

But those who've stuck around noticed a positive development this evening. Last season, a heavy, awkward silhouette sometimes got the best of her; here, she lightened things up considerably, starting with the landscape prints—mountain, desert, ocean—that decorated easy shifts. The suits with which she made her name were back to their simple-chic proportions, too. Instead of tricking out the shoulders, she spliced strips of futuristic-looking iridescent material into the jackets and trousers. But the dominant look here was a loose, oversize vest, worn as a jacket over shorts, that negotiated the delicate balance between pulled-together and edgy. It just might draw some eyes back her way.